If you have a growing website or plan to build a website with a lot of traffic, you’re likely going to benefit from a VPS hosting account. You may also find a VPS to be the best choice if you’re concerned about website security or SEO. Virtual Private Servers offer privacy, security, and control that you won’t find in any other web server system. Virtual Private Servers are best used when shared servers would otherwise fail to provide security, SEO, and a level of configuration that is required for certain setups. Read on to find out if a VPS is right for you.
Virtual Private Server Hosting
Many websites, especially in years past, were placed on a shared server alongside dozens of neighboring sites for access by the public. This practice is called traditional shared hosting and is usually implemented for economical reasons. VPS hosting differs in that your website is from any other website on a physical server, offering you a virtual instance of your own entire web server.
VPS for Increased Security
If your website handles financial transactions, which can range from a simple inventory sales system to a subscription service or content paywall, then it’s best to use a VPS. This is because VPS servers can be configured more easily for secure transactions using SSL, dedicated IP addresses, and other encryption software. With a shared server there is sometimes a risk that other websites on your server will become infected with malware and either infect your files, compromise access restrictions to your files, or get your server’s IP address blacklisted by payment processors.
You also have more control over the security settings on a VPS. You can disable shell access, FTP access, and other protocols that tend to have vulnerabilities if running your site on a VPS. Using a VPS web hosting account allows you to control everything from what OS the server runs, to how often the OS and other software is updated.
When to Use VPS for SEO
VPS web hosting allows you to configure your server and optimize it for SEO and other factors. You can set the access limitations, robots.txt permissions, and updating cycles of all your software on a VPS, unlike on most shared servers. These factors and others will help you get your website indexed and ranked favorably by Google and other search engines.
Another inherent SEO benefit of VPS website hosting is that you’ll avoid harmful practices of other websites on a shared server from affecting your own web traffic. If a website on a shared server uses your IP address or server to send or store spam or other malicious content then your site could suffer. That’s because shared IP addresses often get blacklisted by search engines, virus detection applications, and other entities on the web that monitor spam and viruses.
VPS for Faster Website Load Times
Using VPSs also allow you to configure your server for faster load times. This can be done in several ways, including setting up global cache rules for any websites on your server. You can also monitor your virtual server’s resources to make sure you aren’t getting slowed down by specific areas of your website.
Avoid Restrictions with Virtual Private Servers
Many hosting companies limit users to one domain name per basic account. You can also only be able to host one website per account, and have limited file storage or bandwidth. VPS website hosting typically allows for unlimited websites and domains, and generally comes with plenty of storage and bandwidth to run several medium to large sized websites. You will also be able to install virtually any CMS or server software you’d like whereas on a shared server you may be highly restricted or limited to a couple CMS options.
VPS for Scalability
Another hosting option, dedicated servers, will also fix many of the issues you’d find on a shared server system. The drawback of dedicated servers, especially for new or smaller websites, is that they can be costly. A virtual server can be leased for much less and with a VPS you do usually have the option to scale your website up later on if needed. As your website grows in traffic or comes to require more storage space, your VPS can easily be reconfigured by your host to allow for more resources. Dedicated servers don’t have this option, as you pay for all resources on a physical server whether using them or not in the dedicated server hosting system.
There are several great reasons to use a VPS and they generally don’t cost much more than a shared server system. For an extra $5 per month or so, you can find better SEO, improved security, enhanced configuration options, and other benefits by subscribing to a VPS hosting plan. If you’ve noticed an upward trajectory in your website’s traffic, plan to add financial transactions to your website, or want to better compete in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages) then you may find a VPS to be your best hosting option.
